Edward fox



E. FOX. Distillng and Rectfyng Apparatus.

No. 235,521I. Patented Dec. M, W80.

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'EDWARD Fox,

F BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND KIERAN EGAN OF SAMEKPLAGE, AND'JOSEIH L. GERETY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

nisrlLLiNG AND Rectal-'vine' APPARATUS.

sPEcIFIcA'rIoN forming para of Letters Patent No. 235,521, dated necember-14,"1880.

y v To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD FOX, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have'invented an Improvement in Dis- 5 tilling and Rectifying Apparatus for Wines and Spirits, of which the following is a specification.

Crude alcohol and high-wines are usually over proof and are mixed with water before rectifying or distilling the spirits.

My invention is made for facilitating the distillation or rectification of spirits or hi gh-wiues, and relates toV the' heating and vaporizing of the liquid by a jet of steam, that at the same v 5 time atomizes the liquid, heating and spraying the same upon plates or wire screens. vAaportion of the steam condensesrandthe waterand fusel-oil and other impurities fallback into a receptacle, from which they are removed automatically, and part of the steam and the spiritvapors pass on through a filter for purifying or iiavorin g the same, if desired, and then are -condensed. In cases where itis desired to age winev or spirit, a jet of air takes the place of the jet of 2 5 steam and serves to volatilizea portion of the spirit and age the liquid by bringing the air into contact with the ne particles.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical sec tion of the rectifying apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pipes and jet-tubes where several are introduced into one apparatus.

The vessel a, is of suitable size and shape. At b there are numerous vertical, or nearly ver-v tical, plates of metal, wire-gauze, or other suitable material, and wire screens may also be added at c. d is the cap of the still, with a pipe, e, to any suitable condenser.

The liquid to be operated upon is supplied by the pipe f, and the upper end terminates as anozzle adjacentto the jet-nozzle g of the steampipe h. The steam admitted into the pipe h issues iu a jet across the end of j', and draws 5o condense and run back into the vessel @while in the liquid and atomizes it as it issues from Application inea Decenber 16, 1819.

the spirit-vapors and some of the steam pass on to the condenser by the pipe e. The heated air or steam issuing upwardly atomizes the liquidaud heats it, andat the same time produces a current or circulation that aids the spirit-vapors in passing 01T' from the watery portions, as the latter are spread upon a large extent of surface by the atomizing operation.

I prefer and use a diaphragm at l for the vaf pors to pass th rough. This is composed oit' two or more wire screens with sponge, cotton, or wool between them, or charcoal or similar materiall may be used to filter the vapors and remove any remaining fusel-oil or impurities. In either case the material of the diaphragm is to be kept moist by means of high-wine spirits or other liquid supplied by the pipeand cock n in the proper quantity. This diaphragm may also bo employed for avoring the liquid, according to the materials that may be supplied to the same. The fusel-oil and water of condensation run back into the vessel a, and there isa pipe, m, the upper end of which is at or near the level required for the liquid, and the fusel-oil and surplus water overllow into this tube, and there may be a valve and iioat to close this`tube.

The warmth of the liquid iu the vessel a causes an evaporation of the spirit that may remain in the water, and 'the heat may be iucreased by a steam-coil in the lower part of said 8o vessel a. i

When this apparatus is to be made with numerous atomizers to spray and heat the spirit, it is preferable to employ a volute s teamtube and a volute supply-tube adjacent to each other, and to provide rising tubes with jetnozzles, as indicated in the perspective View,

Fig. 2, in order that the numerous pairs of' tubes may act in the same manner as the tubes j' and g. When air is introduced into this apparatus in place of steam for the purpose of aging wines or liquids the same may be heated more or less, and the air passes oit' through the condenser, so that any spirit it contains maybe condensed, and the liquid that falls back into the vessel a is drawn off into bottles or other vessels.

Wines treated in this manner are much improved iu quality, as the heat or the agtion of the air tends to cause the deposit of geruis and impurities. roo

I am aware that petroleuin has been sprayed andvaporized by the action of steam, but there were not plates or screens to arrest the spray.

These are necessary in rectifying spirits, in order that there may be an extended surface from which the spirit-vapors can pass, otherwise there is not sufficient time for the Warm th I to convert the spirit into vapor.

I referred to, as these have been separately used.

By my combination the reetifyin g apparatus is rendered very compact, and the steam-jet directing the atomized liquid upwardly toward and through the screens creates a current that carries the spiritnfapors upward `toward the ilter and condenser pipe, andthe liquid portions run back in the opposite direction among In my improvement a porous absorbent diaphragm is introduced into the upper part of the still itself, and the avoring material is supplied to the same in a liquid form through a pipe and cock.

I j claim as my invention- 1. In rectifying or'aging liquors, the method of securing the separation of the aqueous matter or other impurity from the liquor proper, which consists in spraying the crude spirit upward by a jet of heated fluid, to give the proper direction to the lighter vapors, and thus promote their separation by gravity, exposing the liquid in a thin lm upon a large extent of surface for` the spirit-vapors to separate as the liquid runs down, and conveying these separated spirit-vapors upward and to a condenser, p

substantially as set'forth.

2. The combination, in a distllingor recti` fying apparatus, of a containing-vessel, plates or screens in theupper part thereof, a supplytube for the crude spirit, vertical jet-tubes for the heated tluid that atomizes the liquid and vaporizes the spirit, a filtering? diaphragm above the plates or screens, and a pipe to the condenser, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 11th day of December, A. D. 1879. p

Witnesses: y EDWARD FOX.

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, CHAs. H. SMITH. 

